Lohr demands Premier McNeil fight for Nova Scotia resource jobs

June 18, 2018 at 8:56 am

PC Fisheries Critic John Lohr is calling on the McNeil government to provide more clarity on Marine Protected Areas to be imposed on Nova Scotia by the federal government.

An article published in CBC in early May showed that Ottawa is considering dozens more Marine Protected Areas in Maritime waters.

“Protecting our coastlines is important, but so is protecting our economy,” says Lohr. “Fishing, aquaculture and other ocean users like oil and gas exploration activities are going to be hit by this restriction. We are essentially saying Nova Scotia is closed for business if we limit our self to this extreme.”

Peter Connors President of the Eastern Shore Fishermen’s Protective Association, stated it’s important that certainty is secured in these Marine Protected Areas – both for the livelihoods of the fishermen and the sustainably of our coastal communities.

“For generations, fishermen have demonstrated good stewardship of our waters,” said Connors. “We need to make sure that we get this right – lives will be forever affected by this.”

Lohr says that the provincial government has shown to be ineffective in lobbying Ottawa on behalf of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotian’s pocketbooks will already be hit by the federal “do it or we will” carbon pricing scheme. He suggests that McNeil start putting Nova Scotia industry first, starting with more clarification on which of these areas our provincial Liberal government supports.

“Premier McNeil needs to stop buckling to Trudeau and his public relations campaign to appease international environmental groups,” says Lohr. “We have some of the most environmentally sustainable industries in the world. I remind this government that they work for the people of Nova Scotia. We need someone to fight for us in Ottawa, not just do their bidding.”

Lohr is calling on Stephen McNeil to provide clarification on these Marine Protected Areas to Nova Scotians as soon as possible.